Rotary retort



H. NlELsEN ROTARY RETORT Dec. 9 T1924:'

Filed Feb. 4; 1924 ing at its ends to the interior wa Patent ed Dec. 9, 1924. J

' UNITED STATES:

PATENT oFFlcE.

w NIE'LSEN, 'OFIi OND0N,"ENGLA'ND, ASSIGNOR OF ON-*HLF T0 BBYAN 14m6,

' OFVHTFIELVD, REBIS, ENG-LAND.

RO'I'ABY BETOBT.

application med rbniary 4, 1924. smutno. 890,878.

To aZZ 'whom domem:

- Be it known that-HARALu-.Nmmnm a subject of the King of Denmark, residing at' 13 Firs Avenue, Muswell' -Hill,,--London,

lN. 10, England, have invented certain-newand useful Improvementsin or Relating to Rotary Retorts, of which the following 1s a specification. w

This invention relates to retorts, kilns, dryers or the like (hereinafter termed retorte of the kind that are divided longitu inally into a suitable number of zones or com vartments by means of plates or baflles isposed transversely across the retort from side to side thereof, the plates or baflies being usually constituted bymutilated discs so as to leave a space between the projecting or free end of each plate or baflie and the wall of the retort through which the material undergoing treatment ma pass.

ccordin to the present invention certain or eac of the baflies are provided at their free ends with a shelf or shelves constituted by an extension or by a plate 01' lates disposed transversely, or extending aterally, of the baflies and preferabl reachretort.

The bafiles which are preferably upright or vertically disposed may .be curved at 'the points where they are connected to the retort a's also at the junctions between the laterally projecting shelves and the uprights so as to avoid the formation of right angled pockets.

The laterally disposed shelves, in combination With the bafles serve to divide up to as large an extent as desired the sectional area of the retort, the only space left for the passage of the gaseous heating medium being restricted to the opening left between the topor free end of each baflle, and the interior Wall of the retort.

Baflies of this character are Very effective in bringing the heatin medium into more intimate contact with t e material undergoing treatment on account of the natural tendency of the gaseous heating medium to travel along the top of the retort. Furthermore, and by employing suitable laterally Ere'ecting shelves attached to the aforesaid a es the gas is forced tov ursue a sinuous path, so that the baflles an shelves situated 1n the lower part of the retort, and arranged of the alternately to those attached to the upper part o f the retort, can also be made equa y effective.

I havefoundthat it is preferable, particularly When carbonaceous material is being distilled or heated, to dischar e the same into ;an annular container attc ed to and revolving with the retort, so as to allow it to cool down in a non-oxidizing atmosphere before being discharged to the outside atmosphere, and according to a further feature of the said invention the treated material may be discharged from the retort into the aforesaid annular container through an opening which is controlled by means of a valve, slide or the like operated by hand or preferably by steam or compressed air.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the lsame will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figu rotary and inclined retort constructed according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. 1

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section of a modified form of retort in which the projecting baflies are displaced or staggered relatively to one another along the length of the retort so as to impart a whirling movement to the gases and thus brin' the same into more intimate contact with the material undergoing treatment.

Figure 4 is (a longitudinal section of a re 1 is a longitudinal section of a retort showing more or less diagrammatically a number of modified forms of the projecting ballies and shelves, any of these forms being capable of being employed either individually or collectively in lieu of the shelves shown at Figures 1, 2 and 3.

A is the body of the retort and B,` B are the bafiles attached to the inner wall of the retort and projecting outwards to beyond the axis thereof, the baflles in the variousl embodiments shown being also provided at their projecting outer ends with further plates or shelves C, O disposcd transversely orA extending laterally of the bafiles B, B. D is' a hopper through which the material which is' to undergd treatment enters the vmaterial is fed'from the hopper to the interior of the retort. F is a so-called sealing chamber disposed at the exit end of the retort through' which the material may be dischargedV in the manner hereinafter described. In the example shown the rotary retort is arranged to be heated internally, for-example, by combustion gases or by the so-callcd sensible heat of Water or producer gas which is admitted to the retort through the inlet G, the combined retort and heating gases being drawn of through the exit opening H. i

During rotation of the retort, the relative positions of the alternately 'disposed shelves C, C and baflle plates B, B will be continuheatin ously reversed or altered with reference to the horizontal, and, as the 'material undergoing treatment travels along the retort, portions of the same' will continually be picked up or showered upon the laterally projecting portions of the shelves. same time the'heatin medium will com- 'pelled, as shown by t e arrows at Figure 1,

to pursue a sinuous, tortuous or zig-zag path and, as the passages S, S between the shelves C, C and the retort walls throu h which the medium travels will be partly o structed by the material undergoing treatment,- the lat.- ter Will be brought into most intimate contact with the heating medium;v Furthermore, owing to the continuous alteration in the position of the baflles' and shelves the material will be continuously stirred and displaced, thus presenting new surfaces to the action of 'the heating medium. As the gaseous heating medium is forced to pursue a'sinuous path in passing alongthe retort, the gas passage will be practically twice the length of theretort; consequently the heat of the gaseous medium will be utilized to a far greaterextent than heretofore and a considerable saving thereby eifected. The gl'reater part of the dust carried along by the eating medium will also be efl'ectually trapped by the baflle plates and shelves.`

Neither the Vertical baffles B, B or the horizontal shelves C, C need necessarily be plain, but can be bent, corrugated or of any other desired shape. Furthermore, and as shown at Figure 3, the shelves C, C and baflles B, B may be disposed in such .a man-' ner that, when looking through the retort from end tov end thereof, they present a twisted or helical passage for the gaseous medium.

It will 'be understood that in cases where carbonac'eous materials are. being treated for the distillation of the same With the removal and recovery of the desired volatile constituents, the gaseous heating medium should preferably not contain any free Oxygen in uantities which would cause combustion of t e evolved volatile matters, while in cases where noncarbonaceous materials are being At the and C2 bew tweenV the projectin'g shelves C and the bafllesvB so as'to avoid' the formation of right angled pockets.v

The baflies or the lshelves, plates,zor`fboth may, if desired, be'inclinjed at anyfsujitable angle to one another or ;tothe Vertical 01' both, or they may bercurved form segments or sections' of a helix. The later-al shelves. at the outer, ends` of the baflles may also be inclined (either inwardly or outwardl or curved, -corrugated or of other suitab e formation, and in cases where S0. tht they only a single .laterally proj ecting shelf is employed on each bafile (as shown for example -at B', Bf (Figure 4)) it may if desired, be formed integral therewith.v A combination of any of these arrangements, `includin plain upright shelves, can also be emplo e A suitable combination of a number o the aforesaid arrangements referred to in thepreceding paragraph is shown at Figure 4,

where single and combined laterally projectingbaflles are shown attached to the outer projecting ends of the de ending baflies.

When the material reacii the retort, in the particular construction of es the exit end of retort shown at Figure 1, it may bevintermittent-ly discharged through an opening I in the wall of the retort into the .sealinJg chamber F by means of a slide valve which is operated by the steam cylinder X that is connected to the outer wall of the body A by any suitable means, such as the boltsv K. After the material has been sufliciently (-.ooled down within the chamber F, it is discharged to the outside atmosphere through an opening I' controlled by means of a second slide valve-J' that is lalso operated by a steani cylinder Y, which is secured to a bracket Z on the chamber F by the -bolts L. Instead, however, of Operating the slide valves by steam or compressed a1r they may be operated by some mechanical' arrangement or by hand? If steam is to be used in the cylinders which operate the slide valves J, J the ex-- i 1. A'rotary retort of the class described,

comprising an elongated inclined tubular body,` a series of battle lates distributed along the interior of said ody, each of said baflie plates being connected at one` edge to said body, the plane of said plates extending steam from the cylinders may be contransversely to said body, and a shelf. se- Cured to the opposite edge of each of said plates and extending in'opposite directions therefrom substantially at right angles to said plate.

' 2. An inclinel elongated rotary retort for the heat treatment of solid material comprising baflle plates projecting inwardly therefrom and dividing the interior of the retort into a series of Compartments, an annular member dsposed around and attached to the lower end of the retort defining With the Wall of said retort a closed annular Chamber therearound, said retort having an opening therein connecting the retort with said annular chamber, saidannular chamber having an opening leading from the same to the atmosphere, valves for Controlling said openings, steam Cylinders for intermittently Operating said valves, and means for condueting the exhaust steam from said cylinders into the annular Chamber so as to asand an annular member around, and attached to, the lower i end of said body defining with the Wall of i said body a closed annular Chamber therearound, said 'body having an opening communicating the body with said annular Chamber, said annular Chamber having an opening leading from the same to the atmosphere, discharge valves for controlling said openings, steam cylinders for Operating said Va'lves, means for conducting the exhaust steam from said cylinders into the annular Chamber so as to assist in Cooling down the material before it is discharged to the atmosphere, and means for Conducting the highl superheated steam from the annular cham' I'er to; said body for the purpose specified.

HARALD NIELSEN. 

